Migration to IP Telephony requires upgrading the network switches to support POE, bandwidth etc. As this transition is happening, network outage will take place. Disruption and delay caused by a network outage results in loss of critical communication such as IP Telephony as well as a significant cost to the organization experiencing the network outage. A power outage or loss of electricity supply can be another interruption to critical equipment such as IP Telephony.
IP Telephony deployment is gaining momentum, however, IP Telephones require power that can be sourced from a traditional power adaptor. A relatively new mechanism for delivering power is over the Ethernet cable or other acceptable inline power mechanisms. This method is well known in the industry and is called Power-Over-Ethernet (POE). The equipment sourcing the power is known as the Power-Sourcing-Equipment (PSE) and the device drawing power is known as the Powered Device (PD). Typical examples of PDs are IP Telephones and remote cameras.
However, retrofitting of existing cabling for data communication to provide power to powered devices via POE can be expensive. Further, it is crucial to keep lines of communications alive at all times. There are instances that stall or disrupt the continuous service that these communications provide. A network outage is an interruption in availability of the system due to a communication failure of the network. Reasons for a network outage are switch failure, network overload and migration to IP Telephony.